11 petitions taken out so far for Brush election

Voters will elect mayor, fill one council seat in all three wards

Brush voters will choose a new mayor and elect city council members to fill three seats this fall and several Brush residents have already requested the petitions necessary to secure a place on the November ballot.

As of Monday morning, 11 residents had requested and been given the petition materials needed to be placed on the ballot as candidates for mayor and city council, though at least one of those candidates has already decided against continuing the petition process.

Interested candidates must secure 25 signatures by Aug. 28 to qualify for a place on the ballot with Brush residents only able to sign one petition each for the mayor and city council race. Those prospective candidates were able to begin circulating the petitions on Aug. 8.

The city will definitely have a new mayor after incumbent Chuck Schonberger announced that he had decided not to seek re-election. Kim Dykes' Ward II city council seat and Rick Bain's seat in Ward I will also need to be filled as Dyke is term-limited and Bain is running for mayor.

Current Ward II councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Vicky Quinlin has also declared her candidacy for mayor. Her council term does not expire until 2020 but her council seat would also need to be filled in a future special election if she were to be elected mayor.

Jeanine Anderson's term in her Ward III is also expiring. Anderson has requested petition materials but has not yet indicated if she plans to run for re-election in her seat or for mayor. Candidates do not have to declare the position they are running for until they return their petition with the 25 signatures.

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Dan Scalise, Glenda McNabb and Mark Thomas have already returned their petitions. Scalise is running for the Ward II council seat and McNabb and Thomas are running for the seat in Ward III. Felix Acosta has decided that he will not go through with seeking signatures to run because there are so many other interested candidates.

Bain and Quinlin both said they are hoping to continue the progress on efforts made by the current council.

"I am in my second term on the council and would like to see Brush continue to move in a progressively positive direction," Quinlin said.

Quinlin said the current council had made significant strides in the areas of economic development, particularly on the development of Hospital Road and an effort to expand Brush Meat Processors, and that she would continue those efforts.

Bain, who has served one term on the council, said he also like to promote economic development.

"In the last four years our city council has really been working hard at developing ideas that have resulted in starting to bring new commercial businesses to Brush," he said. "And some of things were doing is we are trying to identify and develop commercial sites. We're investing in the infrastructure and the streets and stuff like that that is needed to attract business in the first place and also we have marketing person for Brush and we are marketing our community to businesses to try to show them that this is a good place to live."

Bain said he will emphasize trying to attract businesses that provide employment opportunities with an emphasis on those that offer goods and services that currently aren't available in Brush. Bain also said he is hoping to provide experienced leadership at a time when Brush is expecting to see significant population growth and also hopes to use the position to recognize individuals who are doing "good work" in Brush.

"If we represent the people shouldn't we also recognize them?" he said.

Mark Thomas said he is running for the Ward III seat because he has always tried to make Brush his first priority and wants to do that again as a council member. Dana Sherman, who is running for the Ward I seat, emphasized that she wants to make the community better and will attempt to be a voice for residents.

"I don't have a personal agenda," she said. "I'm interested in finding out what issues people have and what there is. I've been involved with the chamber so I kind of know what's in the works already and I want to just keep things moving in a positive direction but I don't really have a personal agenda. I just want to take on the agenda of the people."

Paul Acosta has taken out a petition to run for mayor. Reagan Buchanan, who lives in Ward III and Jeff Osuch, who lives in Ward II , have also taken out petitions but not yet indicated if they will be running for council or mayor.

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